Just because something isn’t exactly as we hoped, doesn’t mean it’s what we think it is. I’ve been thinking a lot about how quickly things can change—for the worse and the better. Many people don’t want change; they fight to hold onto their current situation, even if it’s a bad fit or constraining, because it’s known and, perhaps, not threatening. Maybe it’s not necessarily bad, but it’s far from extraordinary. Further complications arise when two people don’t see the circumstances in the same way. In fact, it’s been said that erosion of a shared reality is currently our single largest social problem. What does that notion mean in your home, workplace, or community of friends? How do you allow yourself the time and space to figure out what something actually is?
Ida Applebroog started her Angry Birds of America series in November 2016. The date and color of the birds allude to US political perspectives. What I see, however, are living beings coming together to communicate. There is always a choice in how we commune, and I believe there is much to learn from others, especially those who see reality differently from us. Perhaps within the ability to see differently is where the extraordinary lives. That feels uncomfortable enough to me to likely be true. And when I’m not sure, I try to figure out how to have the patience to actually see from an alternative perspective.
